BMW Team Rahal Letterman Lanigan adds Maxime Martin to ALMS GT effort

New BMW factory driver Maxime Martin will race with the German manufacturer in the American Le Mans Series this season.

Martin, 26, who was named as a BMW driver in December, will be part of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's two-car team of BMW Z4 GTEs. In the full-time lineup, he takes the place of Jörg Müller, who will join RLL only for the endurance races.

“All of us at BMW Team RLL are very excited about the 2013 season with the new BMW Z4 GTE,” said Bobby Rahal, team principal. “We had four great years with the BMW M3 GT and now want to compete on a par with our rivals with the BMW Z4 GTE as soon as possible.

“With any new car there is going to be a period of development, but we are excited about the upcoming season. This will be our fifth year with BMW, and it's obvious we have a great working relationship. In fact, some of the members of the team are in Munich working side-by-side with BMW Motorsport building the cars. We share the same approach in terms of our desire to be successful, and it's a real honor and privilege to represent BMW in motorsport.”

Martin finished second in the pan-European Blancpain Endurance Series last year.

“I will be facing a big challenge in 2013,” Martin said. “I don't know any of the circuits, and I have to start working with a new team, but I am looking forward to it.”

This year, the BMW Team RLL driver lineup will feature a strong mix of experience and youth. Returning drivers Bill Auberlen, Joey Hand and Dirk Müller will anchor the effort.

Due to his full-time commitment to BMW in the DTM series, for a second consecutive season, however, Hand is planning just a partial ALMS schedule in 2013. Twenty-one-year-old American John Edwards will drive for Hand in the races that don't fit into Hand's schedule.

BMW has yet to announce Martin's driving partner for the 10-race ALMS.

Uwe Alzen, who raced for RLL at Sebring last year, will also return to the RLL lineup for the ALMS enduros in 2013.

The Z4 GTE, which has been developed from the successful GT3 version of the Z4, replaces the E92-shape M3 that the Rahal team has campaigned with since 2009.